First Foray

A dungeon. By the Gods Above and Below, a real Dungeon.

"Welcome, adventurers. Have you come to challenge the dungeon?"

What in the... Where did he came from? Why is there someone here? "Who in the bloody Hells are you?"

"My name is Henry Thompson. And I bid you welcome to the *ahem* Dungeon of Salvation."

"Hu de bludy hells names a dunjun like dat?"

"A (bleep) (bleep, that's who! OUCH!!! (Bleep) hell, you (bleep) named the dungeon, now you're (bleep) punishing me! YEOWCH!!!"

"Hehe, gett uppidy wid sum God, huh? HAH! Dat will teach ye not to mess wid dem."

That's not right. There are no more Gods in Ehritrinia. Even if some of us still worship them, and we still use Their names, They have already left us. The proof is that there are no more Divine-type Classes available. Even those who have them have lost it at the moment they left Ehritrinia.

"As I said earlier, my name is Henry. And we are inside the Dungeon of Salvation. Well, technically we are in the entrance room."

"Um, this dungeon is called the Dungeon of Salvation?" Brillena asks.

"Yes. And don't even ask why. * mumble* (Bleep) busybody."

"Ye got a funny way de speak. A lot of fecking bleeps. What's wid dat?"

"I got a funny way to speak? You got a funny to speak! It's like a mixture of French, German, British and American South slang spoken by a drunk. And it's not even (bleep) consistent."

"Why me ougha...!"

"Grumman, enough. And you. Who, really are you? And what are you doing here? This is a dungeon, not a tavern."

"As I've repeated twice already, my name is Henry Thompson. And I'm the 'caretaker' of this dungeon."

'''Caretaker'?"

"Technically, yes. My main duty is to protect the dungeon and aid in its growth and development. As such, I am tasked with greeting you and introducing you to the rules inside the dungeon."

"Yes, rules. There are three rules that pertains to the whole dungeon. There are also other rules that depends on what room you were in. But to the main rules first."

"First Rule: No criminal acts or violence against other adventurers within the dungeon. That means no murder, rape, torture, theft of any kind, and trickery. Punishable by suspension from dungeon access, outright ban, or even death, depending on the severity of the crime."

"Second Rule: Do not even try to destroy the dungeon. Yes, I know who are, Marius Trellen. You can't hide your Title from the dungeon."

"Kid, that's the last thing last I ever want now. We are here because dungeons are the only way to save."

"Yeah, I know as much. But we'll see. Moving on. Third Rule: No gods. You may not utter or exclaim in a god's name. It. Is. Forbidden. And I'm not the one who will be enforcing this. My 'benefactor' will. And my 'benefactor' is the one that made this dungeon possible."

"Why?" I asks.

"Let's just say he hates them with a passion. And really what did the Gods have done for you? They just warned you not to destroy the dungeons. They didn't even try to stop you. As if there know something will happen and never want to be there to experience it."

"Oh, and the shop is open for business. If you have the required currency, you can buy almost anything available. No limits. But remember, no blocking the shop. Or there will be dire consequences for you. And the shop will know if you're blocking it intentionally."

"And I don't think you're carrying the right currency now buy anything from the shop."

"Ah'll be de judge of dat."

----------------------------------------

The kid was right.

Dungeon Coins. What are those? The kid, Henry explained to me, that Dungeon Coins, or DC, are special coins found in the dungeons. From monster drops, treasure chests, even inside traps. They can be used, along with Shops Vouchers, or SV, to exchange for items in the shops. So he have to explore the dungeon to find them.

And the items offered by the shop is very extensive.

Potions, poisons, rare materials, even rarer items or artifacts. The shop has it all. It even offers Class Slot Unlockers, which are items that allows people to have more than two classes. Or a 'Shard of Divine Essence'... allowing anyone using this to choose from a limited list of Divine-type Classes.

How? I thought when the Gods vanished, they took the ability to gain Divine-type Classes with them. They say it was theirs to begin with.

Fuck them. The kid was right about them. Something is not right. Why abandon us? Why not stop me when I was destroying the dungeons. Why leave us?

As if they know something like this will happen. And they're too powerless to stop it.

Anyway, I'm rambling.

He also explained about the general layout of the dungeon. Nothing too descriptive. He only told us how many floors there are currently, the general themes of every floor, and the monster types there are.

This is quite exciting. After 126 years, I'm going inside another dungeon. And an unexplored one at that.

Aiyana, I've found a dungeon. No, we've found a dungeon. And whoever the mysterious 'benefactor' may be. I thank him with all my heart for giving us a chance to save our world.

----------------------------------------

This is boring.

I've forgotten how weak low level monsters are. Even the scouts have a very easy time killing them. That happens when you a LVL1-5 area when the weakest of you is LVL22. The last time I fought low level monster like this was about 165 years ago, when I was still a low-level rookie. Talk about overkill.

But I can't complain about it. This is a new low-level dungeon. I should have expected this.

The whole first floor was well-lit, which was weird considering this is a cave-like area, except for the tunnels connecting the rooms and several holes in the sides of the rooms where the dungeon may have placed its monster spawners. The floor even have a garden and a mine, something very unusual. Most of the time you find them at lower floors, swarming with minions that acts as miners and gatherers for the dungeon. You have to clean them out before you can even begin gathering them. But not here. They're very accessible, just beyond the room after the entrance room.

The yields are okay for this difficulty. Low quality ores of iron, copper and silver. Low-level herbs, mostly for healing potions and cures of different kinds. The monsters drop low-level and-quality furs, monster parts like teeth, eyes and organs, and rarely a monster crystal.

If this was when the dungeons are numerous, this is trash for us. We would leave them there for other adventurers to get or the dungeon to reclaim. But now, they are very precious.

Even the 'mob rooms', as he call those rooms that are half-full of monsters, are very easy. The 'mini-'boss (the real boss , he explains, is the one guarding the entrance to the dungeon core) along with its group, is killed instantly with just a swipe of my sword.

And then we got a skill book.

Not just any skillbook. A Divine-type skillbook, "Lay on Hands". It only heals a small amount of HP and you need to lay your hands on the target. But with the disappearance of the Gods, They took away everything Divine in nature.

And a skillbook drop at the first floor. That's very rare, even when dungeons dotted the world. Skillbook drops are very low and they are mostly found in the 20th floor or more.

And they are highly-sought after.

Skillbooks have two functions. First, they grant a new skill to any that does not have the skill yet. Like the 'Lay on Hands' book we have now. If anyone of us uses it, he or she can learn the skill.

Second, you can increase the level of the skill if you already know it. If, for example, someone that already know 'Lay on Hands' uses the book, he or she will raise that's skill's level by 1.

And skillbooks have very few limitations. Some skillbooks may have some requirements like Class, Class Levels, Skills learned, Attribute Scores, etc. They may even restrict learning them if you have the wrong class or skills.

Finally, a skillbook can raise you skill level beyond the level cap. Skills have level caps, the maximum level you can raise a skill. Every skill a different level cap, but skillbooks can break through them.

And the item drops, though very low level, are better than what some of the scouts have. Especially the dagger from the Goblin Shaman, which boost Agility, Dexterity, Spirit and can coat itself with a weak paralyzing poison.

Now, we go back to the entrance, set up camp and get some rest. Tomorrow, we''ll tackle the next two floors.

I should write in my journal. It's been almost 6 days since I've written in it.

Maybe later, after we finish the dungeon. Exploring dungeons is a very good topic for the dungeons, especially for beginners.

----------------------------------------

Nice. 10000 Dungeon Coins and a LVL5 Shop Voucher. Gonna buy that. And that. And exchange the voucher for...

Hehe, real nice. A 1-Star skill book 'Summon Imp'. Oh and using the skillbook unlocks the Warlock class. Good thing I bought the unlocker. 5000 DC, still worth it.

Or should I save that for later. Meh.

----------------------------------------

End of Chapter Status

Name: Henry Thompson

Race: Human???

Title: Reborn One (+2)

Class: Druid (Specialty: Not applicable yet.)

Mage (Specialty: Not applicable yet.)

Warlock (Specialty: Not applicable yet.)

Level: 24 (Druid)

24 (Mage)

0 (Warlock)

Exp: 728/293500 (Druid)

728/293500 (Mage)

0/1000 (Warlock)

HP: 858/858

MP: 1995/1995

Attributes:

STR: 45

CON: 45

AGI: 42

DEX: 39

INT: 128

WIS: 125

PER: 68

CHA: 44

SPI: 129

Blessings: Dual Existence, One Being

Curses: none

Status Effects: none

Name: The Dungeon of Salvation

Title: Ensouled Dungeon (+1)

Rank: 17

RP: 1436/159600

HP: 5700/5700

Mana: 72000/72000

Corruption: 72000/72000

Attributes:

DUR: 57

INT: 67

WIS: 62

PER: 52

SPI: 72

COM: 52

Blessings: Dual Existence, One Being

Curses: none

Status Effects: none